Thirteen and a day : the bar and bat mitzvah across America / Mark Oppenheimer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oppenheimer, Mark, 1974-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bar mitzvah.

Bat mitzvah.

Jews--United States--Social life and customs.

Jews.

United States.

Manners and customs.

Physical Description:

256 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2005]

Summary:

A striking look at the Jewish rite and at American Jews in all their diversity. Since its emergence here a century ago, the bar or bat mitzvah has become a distinctively American rite of passage, so much so that, in certain suburbs today, gentile families throw parties for their thirteen-year-olds, lest they feel left out. How did this come about? To answer that question, Mark Oppenheimer set out across America to attend the most distinctive b'nai mitzvah he could find, and Thirteen and a Day is the story of what he found---an altogether fresh look at American Jews today. Beginning with the image of a party of gaudy excess, Oppenheimer then goes farther afield in the great tradition of literary journalists from Joseph Mitchell to Ian Frazier and Susan Orlean. The two dozen Jews of Fayetteville, Arkansas, he finds, open their synagogue to eccentrics from all over the Ozarks. Those of Lake Charles, Louisiana, pass the hat to cover the expenses of their potluck dinner. And in Anchorage, Alaska, a Hasidic boy's bar mitzvah in a snowed-in hotel becomes a striking image of how far the Jewish diaspora has spread. In these people's company, privy to their soul-searching about their religious heritage, Oppenheimer finds that the day is full of wonder and significance. Part travelogue, part spiritual voyage, Thirteen and a Day is a lyrical, entertaining, even revelatory look at American Jews and one of the most original books of literary journalism to appear in some years.

Contents:

Introduction: the American rite

The partiers

The girl

The tutor

The small town

The boy

The grown-ups

We're all Jews now.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0374106657

9780374106652

OCLC:

56057910

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description